Eleventy vs Lume

Eleventy is a free static site generator that compiles templates into HTML. It starts with zero configuration and also allows flexible configuration as project needs change. Content can come from Markdown, and templates can use HTML, JavaScript, WebC, Liquid, Nunjucks, Handlebars, Mustache, EJS, Haml, Pug, TypeScript, JSX, MDX, Sass, and custom formats. Eleventy does not require a JavaScript framework and produces zero client-side JavaScript by default. It can fit into an existing directory structure, letting teams convert selected templates rather than an entire site. The tool includes a local preview server, CMS integration, and multilingual support. It requires JavaScript and recommends Node.js version 18 or newer; quick-start commands are provided for macOS, Linux, and Windows, and for npm, pnpm, and Yarn. Its documentation says it probably is not the right tool for single-page applications, given its defaults and full-page navigation. Eleventy supports self-hosted use and is marked MIT licensed. The homepage reports a build time of 1.93 seconds for 4,000 Markdown files.

Lume is a free static site generator for Deno, suited to projects that keep their content in files and publish static websites. It handles Markdown and supports formats including YAML, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, Vento, and Nunjucks, with room to add more formats. Site data can come from JSON or YAML files, or from a database or API through JavaScript or TypeScript. Processors can alter HTML, CSS, and JavaScript assets, while plugins add options for areas such as image processing, SEO, internationalization, and template engines. Lume says its output does not add client-side JavaScript. It uses Deno and HTTPS imports to obtain project dependencies, and Deno must be installed before setup. Generated sites can be deployed through services including GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, Codeberg Pages, Deno Deploy, Netlify, Vercel, and Cloudflare Pages. Since it generates static sites only, interactive features such as forms, comments, and search need separate approaches or integrations. Content remains in repository files that can be edited, exported, or moved.